


The Melody

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, High School Band AU, I will add more tags as the story goes on, M/M, Many more ships to come, Marching Band AU, Military Style Marching Band AU, Music AU, School Band AU, band au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-08-14 13:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8015977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where everyone is in the school band instead of volleyball.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Emberchoure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //edit: fixing misspellings and tenses//  
> //edit again: same thing as last time^//
> 
> I'm sorry if this first chapter seems boring but the story has to start somewhere.
> 
> I'm excited for this story \\( ^-^ )/  
> Most of this story is based of my experience in band. Everything in this first chapter happened about three and a half years ago but I still remember my experience so clearly.
> 
> I love band so I think this story will be really fun to write. I hope you'll enjoy this story too!
> 
> //Also if anyone reading this plays an instrument tell me what you play! I myself play the trumpet and I love it so much.//
> 
> I've also got lots of ideas for other fanfictions so I hope you'll stick around for those too :)

|6th grade band try outs|

Tsukishima stops in the junior high waiting to try out for his choice of instruments. When the junior high band played for the fifth graders, they handed out papers to anyone who wanted to try out for the band.

On the papers, you would write your three instruments of choice down. After you did that, your teacher would take up your paper and give it to the band director. During the summer, the band director contacts you and sets up a tryout time.

Tsukishima's choices were: (1) saxophone, (2) trumpet, and (3) percussion. He picked these because (1) the saxophone looks cool, (2) the trumpet looks easy to play, and (3) he likes how the drums sound.

He looked around the room he was standing in. There were lockers against the walls of the room and random instruments laid on top of them. Above the lockers were shelves full of many first place (and a few second place) trophies for various contests.

As he was reading the contest names on the trophies, a man walked through one of the doors and greeted him and his parents.

"Hello, I'm Ukai, the band director for the junior high."

Tsukishima's parents shook hands with the man and said hello.

"If you would, please come into the office so we can try out some instruments." The director, Ukai, said.

"So, I see your first choice of instrument is the saxophone. To play the saxophone, you need a reed."

Ukai continued to demonstrate how to use a reed.

"Now, try to make a sound with the reed."

Tsukishima tried to make a noise with the reed but he couldn't get the mouth positioning correct.

"Don't worry, most people have trouble getting the correct embouchure for reed instruments." 

Ukai cleaned the reed and put it away. "Your next choice is the trumpet. For this instrument you need a mouthpiece.”

Ukai showed him the mouth positioning for this and asked Tsukishima to try and make a sound with it.

That time Tsukishima was successful in making noise.

"So far, it seems like the trumpet is a good choice for you. Your sound is really good and so is your embouchure. But you've aso picked percussion as one of your choices, so let's go try that out too."

Ukai directed them to a room full of various percussion instruments. He showed them to one of the instruments.

Ukai tested his rhythm and how well he could stay in beat when tapping his foot to the tempo. Tsukishima was pretty good at staying in time with the rhythms.

They went back to the office where Tsukishima would decide which instrument he wanted to play.

"Are there any other instruments you would like to try out?" Ukai asked on their walk back.  
Tsukishima shook his head. He already knew which instrument he wanted to play.

"Alright then, let's decide which instrument is the best for you."

"So, out of all three, which one did you like the best?" Ukai asked once they were back in the office.

"The trumpet." Tsukishima replied quickly. He really liked the trumpet. He thought it sounded nice. Tsukishima was excited to play the whole instrument and not just the mouthpiece.

"I feel like that's a good choice for you. You had a great sound when playing the mouthpiece earlier." Ukai turned to Tsukishima's parents. "Well, now that we know what he wants to play, it's time to actually get the instrument for him. You can either use a school owned instrument or you can buy one. If you buy one, you can either make monthly payments or you can pay for it all at once."

"Hmm... I think we'll probably pay for it monthly." Tsukishima's mother said.

"Okay. You can talk to the music shop employees over there and set up your payments." Ukai told Tsukishima's parents. Then he looked at Tsukishima and smiled. "We're glad to have a new member and we hope you'll enjoy being here."

 

Tsukishima mumbled a quiet "Thank you." then walked with his parents to go talk to the music store people.


	2. Lines and Spaces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //edit: fixing misspellings and tenses//  
> //edit again: same thing as last time^//
> 
> I should be asleep by now because I have school tomorrow and I have to get up at six but here I am instead.
> 
> Also, here are some things you might need explained since I'm sure not every school is like mine and has the same system for band. Or you need an explanation because you're not in band. Whatever it is, here are my explanations.
> 
> The sixth grade has a director for each section. There are also two different schools that feed into the junior high //which will come into play in future chapters// //also Yamaguchi and Tsukishima go to different schools// Then the junior high feeds into the high school where the marching will happen in future chapters.
> 
> Also I'm very tired, so forgive me for any mistakes.
> 
> Wow I need to work on making my chapters longer whoops.

Yamaguchi had no idea of what to do. He chose band because he thought it would be easy. How could he have known that it was this hard to read music?

"No, no. It's E, G, B, D, F. Then it's F, A, C, E. Music doesn't go past G. There is no H or J." His director pointed out.

He sighed. He didn't have any physical talent so he stays away from sports. He thought music would be easier on him.

Yamaguchi stared at the music sheet in front of him. "So, this one," he pointed at the E line, "is E?"

"Yes." His director responded.

Yamaguchi continued to name the lines and spaces. He did pretty good on the spaces because it spells out "FACE" but the lines were a bit more trouble for him.

"Okay, E, G, B, D, F. Think Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday."

"Okay, that seems pretty easy to remember."

Yamaguchi named the lines and spaces again and this time he got everything correct. Maybe band wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Okay everyone, now let's work on fingerings."

Maybe not. He looked down at the clarinet in his hands. How was he supposed to remember all of the keys? How would his fingers even reach all of the keys? He picked the clarinet because it's sounded nice but he didn't expect it to be so complicated.

He tried to keep up with what his director was saying, even though he was pretty sure that he'd just forget it all anyway.

|A few weeks later at Tsukishima's school|

"Okay," Tsukishima's director started, "today I'm going to pass out the songs for the upcoming Christmas concert. Also, for the Christmas concert, we're going to have all of the sections from both schools play together."

Everyone started chatting excitedly, ready to meet everyone else from the other sections and school.

Tsukishima didn't really care though.

The short kid to his right, whose name he had learned was Hinata, started excitedly talking to him.

"Don't you think this'll be fun? It'll be so cool to hear how all the instruments sound together!"

Tsukishima just rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Aw, come on. You're no fun." Hinata pouted.

Tsukishima just ignored him.

"Fine then." Hinata grumbled and turned around.

"Everyone, quiet down." The director said. "We need to start working on this music if we want to have it ready in time for the Christmas concert.

|Back at Yamaguchi's school|

The director had just explained the Christmas concert to everyone and they all started talking about what they thought the other school was like.

Yamaguchi turned to his left as a girl named Yachi started to worry that she would ruin the whole concert.

"Don't worry, Yachi! You'll do fine!"

"Unless you make a lot of mistakes." A boy, named Kageyama, said from Yachi's left.

"Oh my, I'm gonna mess everything up." Yachi mumbled to herself.

"Kageyama! Don't talk like that!" Yamaguchi scolded.

"I'm only telling the truth." Kageyama said.

"Okay, I know that everyone is excited but it's time to start working on the music." The director said.

Even though Yamaguchi had been consoling Yachi, he was a bit nervous about the concert himself.


	3. Fifth Chair

Yamaguchi stares out of his window and looks at the puffy white snow falling down. He contemplates whether he should go to school or just continue sitting on his bed. Yamaguchi doesn't have much time to contemplate this any longer though as his mother rushes into his room telling him that he needs to get up soon or else he'll be late.

Yamaguchi hates the idea of being late. Having to walk into an office full of adults who will question him on why he's late. Then going into a classroom full of students who will turn and stare at him as he makes his way to his desk. He decides he doesn't want any of that to happen to him and stands up from his bed.

He looks at himself in the mirror. After a moment of figuring out whether he should brush his hair or not, he decides against it; declaring that his hair looks okay.

Yamaguchi continues to move around his room, tiredly preparing himself for whatever the day has in store for him.

Finished with getting himself ready for the day, Yamaguchi makes his way down the stairs, excited for another school day.

"Hey, don't forget to eat! I love you, goodbye!" Yamaguchi's mother shouts as she exits the house for work.

"I love you too, mom. Goodbye!" Yamaguchi says, grabbing the breakfast his mom left for him on the table.

He eats his breakfast as he packs his school things, now in a hurry since he took a long time to get ready.

Once he's got his breakfast eaten and school things packed, he heads out of the front door and down the pathway to the school.

He hums a little as he walks, pushing his chin further down in his jacket in an attempt to avoid the cold. As time passes, snow starts to cover the ground around him. He really wishes that he had checked the weather beforehand so he could have worn his hat and gloves.

When Yamaguchi reaches his school, he can hear the first bell going off. He made it in time, 6 minutes before the late bell. Yamaguchi walks inside, happy that he doesn't have to deal with the horrors of being late today.

Yamaguchi's day goes on as it normally does; first period English, second period Math, and the period he's currently in, third period lunch. He sits at a table by himself, as he usually does. People might think it's sad that he has no friends to sit with at lunch but he finds that this is much simpler than having to deal with people. He enjoys the quiet he has, no pressure of having to keep up a conversation with anyone.

When the bell signaling the end of lunch rings, he quickly throws his trash away and excitedly makes his way to his fourth period class, band.

Yamaguchi has been enjoying band a lot and spends most of his time trying to improve his clarinet skills. It may be a slow process but he's definitely improving. He even got fifth chair in the most recent chair test his section had. Even though there's only eight people in his section, he's still proud of the chair he managed to earn.

When he enters his section's room, there are only two other people in the room so far. He doesn't know their names though since he never really talks to anyone.

As he's setting up his instrument, more people file into the room with excited smiles on their faces.

"Oh, hello Yamaguchi!" Yachi greets as she sat down next to him.

“Hello Yachi.” He says politely.

“Have you heard about what’s happening?” She asks excitedly.

“No…” Yamaguchi says, confused.

“Our section is going to perform at lunch next week!”

“Wait, really?”

“Yep,” Yachi smiles happily, “I’m nervous but excited!”

“Me too.” Yamaguchi agrees.

The director hushes everyone, telling them about the performance they’ll be having in the lunchroom next week and what song they’ll play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I am so bad at updating regularly, sorry! This story will most likely have slow and random updates since I'm usually busy with band and school.
> 
> I really want to get better at writing. As of right now, this story is probably really boring since I'm no good at writing. I really want to continue this story though since I have never finished writing anything before.
> 
> I also need to work on making longer chapters. This one's really short (666 words :^)


	4. Concert Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay!! So! I know I haven't updated in awhile and I am so sorry (does anyone really care though?? this story sucks) I don't have an excuse other than the fact that I get writers block easily. From now on, though, I will try my best to update consistently.
> 
> A thing that happened recently (I say recently but it happened a month ago) was that my band got a one at the UIL Marching Competition. I'm still really proud of that. It was really scary, though, because the band has got a one so many years in a row (I think over fifty years now) and I didn't want to be apart of a band that broke that streak. (If you want to see our march, click [here](https://youtu.be/E6TRBK8w6Ms). The routine starts at about 4:30 in the video so skip there if you don't want to listen to a boring introduction.)
> 
> Concert season is starting now and I am very excited for it. I still miss marching season though. (I mean, we still march in parades but there won't be another marching routine until next year so it doesn't feel as cool anymore haha)

The concert is in three days. Yamaguchi practically shakes with excitement (and nervousness) at the thought of his first performance. He's also excited to start practicing with the other school. What are the other kids like? Would he even have a chance to interact with any of them, seeing as they were there to practice, not chat?

The school day passes by in a blur. Before he knows it, he's in the parking lot of the auditorium that both bands will be playing together in. As he walks inside, clarinet case in hand, he's greeted by directors frantically running around trying to set everything up.

"Hey, Yamaguchi!" Yachi waves at him.

"Hello Yachi." He smiles and greets politely as he walks up to her.

"Are you ready for the concert?" She asks him.

"Yeah, I think it's gonna be fun." He smiles happily. "I can't wait to see the players from the other school."

"I can't wait to see them either! Oh, but what if they're scary? What if they don't like me? What if they want to beat me up?" Yachi rambles on.

"Okay, okay slow down here. I don't think any of them want to beat you up."

Sometimes Yamaguchi wonders how she comes up with things like that. Yachi always seems to think that the worst things are going to happen to her.

Yachi takes a deep breath.

"You're right!" Yachi slaps her face with both hands. "I don't need to overthink this!! I just need to go out there and play to the best of my ability!"

Yamaguchi giggles at Yachi and agrees with her. As long as he goes out there ready to play his best, then there's no need to worry about messing up.


	5. Late to Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What you experience when you show up late.

As Tsukishima walks into the auditorium, he sees a lot of people running around setting up chairs and stands. He scoffs at that.

"Tch. They tell us to get here on time and they aren't even prepared." He mumbles to himself, annoyed.

He wonders why they have to be there to practice when the concert isn't even happening tonight. Why must they practice three days early?

Even though he's annoyed by the early concert preparation, he sets up his instrument, nonetheless.

As he walks to the stage, he bumps into a boy with brown hair.

"Yamaguchi!" A girl squeaks at the sight of the brown-haired boy falling down.

Tsukishima looks down at the boy, unimpressed. He had barely even touched him, yet the boy somehow managed to fall over.

As the girl scrambles to help her friend up, Tsukishima continues his walk to the stage.

|| YAMAGUCHI ||

"Yamaguchi!" Yachi shouts as he feels his body hit the ground.

Yamaguchi panics, wondering how ended up down on the ground.

Yachi bends down and helps him up. Once he's standing, he turns around to see a tall blonde boy with glasses walking towards the stage.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" Yachi asks, panicked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Yamaguchi says, in hopes of calming his friend down. "But what happened?"

"That blonde boy bumped into you. And he didn't even help you up or apologize!"

"It's okay, Yachi." Yamaguchi tries to reassure her.

"But it's not! He should have apologized to you!" Yachi exclaims.

"I really don't mind Yachi. It was just an accident."

Yachi sighs. "I guess so."

"Well, come on. We'll be late if we're not in our seats soon."

Yamaguchi and Yachi head towards the stage, ready to work hard in the hours of practice ahead of them.

 

_  
_  
_

 

The concert is in two days. Yamaguchi gets more nervous the closer it gets.

The school day passes by a little slower than yesterday, yet still too quick for his liking.

This time he showed up a little late, not having the time to talk to Yachi before practice. As he's setting up his instrument, though, out of the corner of his eye, he notices the blonde boy from yesterday.

He also notices an exuberant orange-haired boy running towards the blonde.

"Hey, Tsukishima!" The orange boy yells, waving his arms wildly.

The blonde boy, apparently named Tsukishima, just 'tsk's at the boy and turns away from him.

"So, I made a new friend at the other school!! Her name is Yachi!" The orange haired boy exclaims loudly.

"Shut up, we're already late. I'm gonna go to the stage now." Tsukishima rudely says to the orange boy.

"But don't you want to hear about my new friend? Or the other school?" The orange boy asks dejectedly.

"Hah, no."

The orange boy's mood changes quickly into something determined.

"Well then!! Who cares what you think! You're just rude!"

The orange haired boy then runs out of the room and towards the stage.

Yamaguchi is surprised at the new information of this boy becoming Yachi's friend. Not that she's a bad friend, it's just that it's hard for her to talk to people. Mentally he's cheering for Yachi, proud that she's making friends.

Yamaguchi realizes that he's just been sitting in the front room lost in thought. He quickly jumps up from his spot on the floor and makes his way to the stage.


	6. Annoying Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Why would I want to be friends with an annoying tangerine?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look another update no one cares about

Tsukishima is late, and he's annoyed.

He may hate going to practice, but he hates being late more.

What annoys him more though, is a small orange-haired boy named Hinata Shouyou.

He hears running, then a shout of, "Hey, Tsukishima!"

Before Hinata can reach him, though, he turns away.

He doesn't listen to anything Hinata says to him, so he just tells him to shut up and get ready for practice.

Hinata starts pouting and saying things about a new friend, asking if he'd want to hear about them.

Tsukishima just laughs and tells him no.

Hinata yells something at him and storms off.

He finishes putting his instrument together, and walks into the main practice room.

 

-  
-  
-

 

In practice, they're told to go through warm ups by themselves while the directors finish setting up.

Most people don't listen to that order, and instead talk to their friends. Or, at least, the closest thing they have to a friend.

"Psst. Tsukishima!" Someone says, and pokes him.

He turns around, annoyed, and stares angrily at Hinata.

"What." He asks, though it's more of a demand.

"Hey, don't be so mean to me! I just wanted to ask you to help me with this scale."

"No. Why would I help you?"

"I don't know..." Hinata sulks.

Tsukishima ignores Hinata, and turns back to his music.

 

-  
-  
-

Tsukishima really annoys Hinata.

He's always the best. He always gets first chair.

Hinata's always right after him, only ever getting second chair.

He should be happy, to be second out of ten, but he's not. He just wants to beat Tsukishima. He just wants to be first for once.

He tried to be nice to him at first, but he's always rude to Hinata. And he doesn't understand why. He thought that they were friends.

They were friends, weren't they?

Or maybe not... Maybe he was wrong?

Hinata decided that instead of wondering by himself, he'd ask Tsukishima the same question.

-  
-  
-

As practice was ending, Hinata ran to catch up with Tsukishima.

"Hey, Tsukishima!" Hinata said once he caught up with him.

Tsukishima only turned toward him when he spoke, not giving him a response.

"Are we friends?"

Tsukishima stopped walking.

Friends?

Was the shrimp seriously asking him if they were friends? Did Hinata not realize how many times he's told him to shut up and to stop annoying him? Did it really not get through his thick skull and into his tiny brain?

"No." Tsukishima replied curtly, turning to walk away.

This surprised Hinata. Really? How could someone be so mean to a person they see everyday?

He realized that Tsukishima was way ahead of him and ran until he was walking in step with him.

"But why not?" Hinata sulked.

"Why would I want to be friends with an annoying tangerine?" Tsukishima glanced at him.

"Rude!! Fine. Don't be my friend. I'll just go talk to Yachi and ignore you from now on." Hinata angrily stomped off, leaving Tsukishima to wonder who Yachi is. 

Was Yachi the new friend Hinata had mentioned before? He couldn't really remember since he had decidedly ignored Hinata when he was talking about it.

Not like he cared if Hinata and Yachi were friends or not. It made no difference to him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this first chapter seems boring but the story has to start somewhere.
> 
> I'm excited for this story \\( ^-^ )/  
> Most of this story is based of my experience in band. Everything in this first chapter happened about three and a half years ago but I still remember my experience so clearly.
> 
> I love band so I think this story will be really fun to write. I hope you'll enjoy this story too!
> 
> //Also if anyone reading this plays an instrument tell me what you play! I myself play the trumpet and I love it so much.//
> 
> I've also got lots of ideas for other fanfictions so I hope you'll stick around for those too :)


End file.
